If you’re in your 50s or older and considering divorce, or if your spouse has said they want to end your marriage, you likely have very different concerns and priorities than you would if you were divorcing in your 20s or 30s – and you’re not alone. The number of married couples who are choosing to part ways as they get close to retirement or are already well into their senior years has grown so much that there’s a name for this trend – “gray divorce.”
There are several key factors that you should at least give some thought to as you prepare to negotiate the terms of your divorce.
Spousal support
If a marriage has lasted a long time, one spouse may have been in and out of the full-time workforce as they raised kids, helped care for aging family or helped the other establish their business. Becoming financially self-sufficient at a later age is challenging. Therefore, seeking spousal support may be necessary. Even if you can support yourself, if there’s a significant income disparity between you and your spouse, you may still be able to get spousal support to maintain your marital standard of living.
Property division
You can also help even things out with a fair property division settlement. Make sure that your spouse is disclosing all of their assets. Some divorcing spouses have been known to hide or “dissipate” (waste or spend) assets to avoid splitting them.
If one or both of you has employer-sponsored retirement accounts like 401(k)s, you’ll also need a qualified domestic relation order (QDRO) to divide those assets without triggering financial penalties.
Other considerations
Here are just a few more foundational things to consider:
- Health insurance: If you’re on your spouse’s plan, that coverage will likely end when the divorce is final.
- College expenses: If you have one or more kids in college or you’re paying their student loan debt, you’ll need to work out how those expenses will be divided.
- Social Security retirement benefits: To get a clearer picture of your financial future, even if you’re still a few years away from full retirement age (FRA), find out through the Social Security Administration (SSA) what your estimated monthly benefits will be.
The earlier you begin to think about these things and get separate financial, tax and legal guidance, the better prepared you’ll be to come out of the marriage on solid financial ground.